6.Navigate
to the Fabric in SCVMM, select Update Servers, right click, and add
your WSUS server. Specify the FQDN name, and the TCP port the server is
listening on. If you have ran the default installation of WSUS and are using
the default Web-configuration, the TCP port should be 80. Use a Run as Account
or specify the required credentials to add your server to SCVMM.

7.Once
the server is added, you`ll be able to manage it directly from SCVMM. (Right
click the server in Fabric, and select properties. Here you can change updates
classifications, products etc).

Now, you
should have your WSUS server available in SCVMM.

The next
steps will show you how to create Update Baselines for your resources.

An
update baseline contains a set of required updates that is then scoped to an
assignment such as a host group, a stand-alone host, a host cluster, or a SCVMM
management server. A compliance scan that are assigned to a baseline are graded
for compliance with their assigned baselines. When a computer is found
noncompliant, an administrator will bring the computer into compliance through
update remediation.

You can
configure update baselines to host groups and to individual computers based on
their role in SCVMM.

(If you move a host from one host group to
another, the baselines for the new host are applied to the host)

We`re
going to assign computers to a built-in update baseline:

1.In
the Library pane, expand the Update Catalog and Baselines, and click
on Update Baselines

You should see two built-in baselines named Sample Baseline for Security Updates
and Sample Baseline for Critical Updates

2.Click Sample Baseline for Security Updates

3.On
the Home page in the Properties
group, click Properties. (On the
left, click Updates to open the Updates page)

4.Here
you can add/remove update baselines from the baselines that are listed.

5.Click
Assignment Scope to open the
Assignment Scope and select host groups, host clusters, and computers to add to
the baseline. All computers are represented by the roles they have in SCVMM. To
apply a baseline to all hosts, you have to select the All Hosts root host group.

6.Click
OK to save the changes you`ve made.

You can
also create a new update baseline in SCVMM.

Repeat
step 1 and in the Home page in the Create group, click Baseline so the Update
Baseline Wizard starts. This wizard will take you through the required steps to
build a baseline and let you select the updates you want. Create the baseline
and select the correct Assignment Scope for the updates (Hyper-V updates for
Hyper-V hosts, and so on).

If
you`ve done this right, you should be able to see the update baseline in the
Library pane, expand Updates and Baselines Catalog, and then click Baselines.

Now,
let`s navigate back to the Fabric,
and check if our resources are compliant.

1.Select
a Host group, click the Home tab, and select a host.

2.Click
Compliance and initiate a Scan with the scan button.

3.If
some of the hosts are not compliance, select Remediate.

4.SCVMM
will now initiate an orchestrated workflow which:

1.Start
maintenance mode (Live Migrate VMs to other nodes in the Hyper-V Cluster)

2.Install
updates

3.Reboot
computer

4.Check
if the computer is compliant

5.Stop
maintenance mode

6.Repeat
all the 5 steps on each and every node in the cluster.

Brilliant!
Now I can spend more time in the TechNet Forums and on twitter :-)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

This
article is based on the big Private Cloud picture, and what changes this will
bring.

I will
be focusing on the virtualization layer at this point, and what you need to
prepare for to take advantage of the technology.

First of
all, there are some new nice features that let you administer and manage your
Windows Server more easily. Not only one single server at the time, but many. A
so called multiserver management lets you manage both virtual and physical
server from the same single pane of glass.

The
deployment of server roles and features are also made much more simple, with
scenario based deployment. This will also include both physical, virtual,
local, and remote. Use your existing skills to make quicker and more reliable
setups in your environment with this new upgrade.

But
let`s move over to the important
features, related to virtualization and Hyper-V.

First of
all, you can now explode your current cluster restrictions, and have as many as
63 nodes and 4,000 VMs per cluster. Along with improved performance (they say),
cluster-aware patching (we have this already in SCVMM 2012, with an
orchestrated routine that updates every node in the cluster in an automated and
optimized way) we also get data deduplication and live storage migration.
Speaking of live migration, we are now able to live migrate VMs – not only one
at a time, but many, and we can also schedule this. And if you have more
important VMs than the other (I bet you have), you can now define priorities on
the VM level.

One of
the most common question I`ve seen in the Hyper-V forum, is questions related
to Virtual Networks. What is a virtual network in Hyper-V, and how does it
works? Especially myself and Brian Ehlert uses the word “switch” when we`re
explaining this. And this has finally changed now in the next version of
Windows Server. We call it Virtual Switch now, because that`s what it is.

And add
native NIC teaming to it, and you can see that we`re moving further toward the
cloud.

Hyper-V
Replica will also be a business saver for the small and medium businesses,
allowing you to implement a cheap disaster recovery plan. It only requires disk
and networking.

Now,
this was just some of the new
features. I will suggest that you should take a closer look at Aidan Finn`s
blog at http://aidanfinn.com to get more
details. He played around at the Build-conference, and is a subject matter
expert in Hyper-V.

Let`s
focus on the virtualization layer a bit more.

Ok – so we
have some serious changes in Hyper-V. What should be our focus?

High
availability and continuously available systems.

There
will be some new “best practices” I guess, but some of the best practices we
already know from Hyper-V 2008 R2 will still apply. It will still be files on a
disk, and these files will require the disk storage subsystem to handle the
IOPS. No easy way out to place your VMs on an old file server, and expect
fantastic performance.

However,
all these major upgrades will be transmitted to the System Center-portfolio.

System Center
Virtual Machine Manager 2012 will have to understand the virtualization layer
in detail, and Fabric Management must be aware of how you have defined your
clusters, what kind of storage solution you are using, and the new enhanced
networking features. I guess we`re talking SCVMM 2012 SP1 when we will be
playing with this in production.

DPM 2012
must also know this layer, to understand what and where to initiate the backup.

System
Center Orchestrator 2012 will most likely give us some interesting and fun
integration packs to support complex tasks to be automated, and System Center
Operation Manager 2012 will monitor every new feature in detail.

Aidan is
an IT-pro based in Ireland, and is – in my opinion not just an MVP, but a Rock
star!

He has
just spent some exciting days at the Build-conference, and blogged more than a
journalist have written articles these days.

I think
I can speak on behalf of the rest of the community, and really thank Aidan for
everything he share on a day to day basis, especially from the build conference
which contained a lot of new and useful information on private/public cloud,
and Hyper-V in Windows Server 8.

Aidan
has also written several books, and the one I will mention here is related to
Hyper-V.

“Mastering Hyper-V Deployment”

I
remember back in August 2010 when I decided to take the MCITP Virtualization
Administrator 2008 R2 exams. There were no available books from Microsoft
Press, and I had to rely on my own knowledge and skill to take all these three
exams. I used my lab and the resources available on the big humpy internet.
However, if I was aware of this book before the exam, I would definitely use
this as my guidance. This book is so well written, and covers every part of a
virtualization project in general, and Hyper-V in detail. Not just Hyper-V, but
also the required components to manage this entirely, likes SCOM, SCVMM, SCCM,
and DPM. Aidan combines humor and an in depth
technical knowledge in his writing, and it`s quite fun to read it over and over
again to refresh some almost forgotten skills.

I have a
hunch that this book will get an upgraded version when Windows Server 8 arrives
to the market, and I`m really looking forward to this J (Can you feel the pressure, Aidan? J )

Either you
are a Hyper-V expert, or brand new in the virtualization game – buy this book,
and read it!

It`s not
a useless sentence in the entire book, and it will help you to get the best
understanding about Hyper-V technology from the greatest rock star in the
Hyper-V community.